Persimmon Pudding

I tried harvesting the persimmons in our backyard again this year.  For 1/4th of a cup of persimmon pulp, it was very messy. 

I ended up purchasing store bought frozen persimmon pulp.  (It was pretty exciting to find it at the grocery store).  Someday, I will make this dish with the persimmons from our backyard, but not this year!

I snipped this recipe off of another place on the internet - and it was very good!  The pudding smelled like pumpkin pie while baking, and the texture is like a soft brownie. It goes well with whipped cream.

Persimmon Pudding*
Preheat the oven to 325 °F.  I used a glass baking dish 9 x 13.
In a large bowl combine:                  

2 Cups flour          
2 tsp. baking powder  
½ tsp. baking soda      
1 tsp. salt
1/8th tsp. ground cloves 
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

Thoroughly mix these dry ingredients with a whisk.

In another large bowl combine:

2 Cups persimmon pulp
1 ¾  Cups sugar 
¾ Stick softened butter
3 Cups milk
2 large eggs

Cream  together butter and sugar, then milk, eggs and persimmon pulp.  Then slowly beat in the dry ingredients. 
Some slight lumpiness from the persimmon pulp or butter is expected. 

Pour the batter into the baking dish and bake in the oven for about an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean and the edges get slightly caramelized.  When removed from the oven, they usually fall and pull the caramelized edges inward. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

*best with American or Midwestern persimmons - not Asian persimmons.

Rhubarb

My father in law loves rhubarb. If you haven't had rhubarb before, it looks like celery, but tastes very tangy and a little sweet. *

We have two rhubarb plants in our garden. This year, due to all the rain) the rhubarb is thriving and has stayed alive longer than usual (usually rhubarb is done around July).

This is one of the recipes I found from an Mennonite cookbook. A Wooden Spoon Baking Memoir by Marilyn Moore

Rhubarb Crisp
Crumb crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar
8 Tbsp. butter

Filling:
4 cups sliced rhubarb
1 pkg. strawberry gelatin

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Prepare crumb crust mixing flour and sugar. (I recommend using a Cuisinart if you have one.) Cut in butter.
3. Place one half of the crumb crust in an 8 x 8 x 2 baking dish. Pat into an even layer.
4. Prepare filling. Spread rhubarb slices over crumb layer. Sprinkle gelatin powder over rhubarb.
5. Sprinkle remaining crumb crust evenly.
6. Bake 45 minutes or until crust is brown and filling is bubbly. Cool.

This recipe works well with vanilla ice cream!

*PS. You can eat rhubarb raw but I don't recommend it. It tastes much better baked in pies, crisps and in jam or jelly.

Pumpkin pancakes

One of the books I read while I was pregnant had lots of great recipes for moms of multiples.

My favorite recipe was for pumpkin pancakes. Pumpkin has a tremendous amount of iron, and walnuts have protein, iron and are just generally good for you.



I usually double this recipe and it makes enough for the four of us. I use the pumpkin without the pumpkin pie spices added in. Don't add the cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves if you use canned pumpkin with the spices included already.

1 egg
1/2 cup regular flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
3/4 cup milk
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar (applesauce works okay as well)
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 can of pumpkin (probably around 3/4 of a cup)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (to taste, I usually just sprinkle some in)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (see above)
1/4 tsp. cloves (see above
chopped walnuts (I add a couple of Tablespoons - it's up to you)

Beat all the ingredients together.

Do not allow three year olds to try the batter because of raw eggs. They can stir the mixture though.

The griddle or frying pan should be on medium or medium low. These burn fairly easily. Pour around 1/4 cup onto griddle. Flip when bubbles bubble up to the top of the pancake. I haven't tried this with Bisquick - I'm sure it would work okay if you mixed the batter thoroughly. This works with just about any pancake recipe, just add the pumpkin, spices and walnuts.

Gazpacho

One of my favorite dishes to make in summer is fresh gazpacho.

It's really pretty easy, the only requirements are fresh tomatoes and some sort of blender or food processor. I'm sure you could try to make it without a blender, but then it would really be more like salsa.


Ingredients
2 or 3 fresh tomatoes
1/2 onion
1 cucumber
1 green pepper (optional)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
2 tsps. ground cumin (If you can grind it yourself, it tastes better).
salt and pepper to taste
splashes of hot sauce (to taste)
parsley leaf (optional)

First you start with fresh tomatoes. These are not from our garden, but a local farmer's market. Our tomatoes are finally coming in, just this week. Any tomatoes will do, but right out of the garden really taste best.

Just chop them up and put them in the blender/food processor. Add the other ingredients. It doesn't matter if you add them whole or sliced up a little first.

Add the olive oil, vinegar and cumin. Keep mixing. In the end, the consistency will be like soup.

It tastes best chilled - after it's been refrigerated for around an hour. It goes great with some form of corn chip. I think it's really yummy - I've been known to eat a lot. I'm pretty sure it's fat free - the chips are the

Enjoy!